Gift Aid

Using Gift Aid means that for every £1 that you give, The Eve Appeal can get an extra 28p from the Inland Revenue.

Gift Aid is tax relief on money donated to UK charities by people who pay enough UK income tax and/or capital gains tax to cover the amount of tax the charity will reclaim. Because HM Revenue & Customs treat charity donations as if basic rate tax had already been deducted charities can claim this tax to increase the value of the donation.

It is not difficult to see how this can mount up to a significant sum.For example, a donation of £100 from a basic rate taxpayer becomes £128 with Gift Aid.

For higher-rate taxpayers there are personal benefits too. If you are in this tax bracket you can claim personal tax relief on the difference between the higher rate of tax and the basic rate of tax in your Self Assessment Return. This is worth an additional 23p for every pound donated.

For example, if you are a higher-rate taxpayer, your donation of £100 becomes £128 with Gift Aid and £23 can be reclaimed in your Tax Return.

Gift aid rules

Donors must give the charity a gift aid declaration, which should include:

  • their name
  • their home address
  • the charity's name
  • details of the donation - saying that it is a gift aid donation
  • confirmation that they have paid UK tax - to cover the tax the charity will reclaim

A declaration can be made to cover individual donations or a series of donations, donations made during a specified period or to cover all future donations. They can also be backdated for up to 6 years prior to the date of the declaration provided the donation was made after 6 April 2000.

Download a Gift Aid Form click here.